Another "first guitar?" question - Page 2

bigj480 · December 26th, 2006

I've been wanting a guitar for a long time but recently my cousin got one and now my brother and I both NEED one, urgently.

The problem is that, just like my other hobbies, once I start looking to buy I have a hard time keeping within my starting budget. So I need help selecting a guitar and amp. I've heard it said that one should look at what the guitarists that they listen to, to help with the decision. The problem is we like alternative, classic rock and rock, but mainly hard rock and metal. There are many people and guitars on that list, so that doesn't help much. I've also heard that beginners with a tight budget should avoid getting a cheap guitar by getting a small/cheap amp if necessary, which makes sense me. So hear is the deal, I have $400 to spend on a guitar and amp and my brother has $200 for a guitar only. I'm not sure weather 24 frets or a trem bar is necessary but it's something I wouldn't mind having. I know this question is asked a lot, but your advice on what guitars and amp to consider would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and no "flying Vs" please.

bigj480 · #16 December 27th, 2006

Are ravens only available on line also? I'm going for the schecter gryphon unless I see something I don't like when I visit GC. If Agiles and Ravens where available locally and many people had experience with them I would consider them, but that's not the case. I realize that I would get no real use out of a trem bar for quite a while and the extra tuning is not something I would look forward to, so I took that out of the equation. Do any of these have a set-in neck? That's the only other thing I've been considering.

BTW: any advice for my brother that I mentioned in the first post? Right now he's looking at the ESP F-50. The reviews of it seem to be good and it has most of the features he's looking for. One thing that would be nice is coil tapping, but I guess he may be able to mod for that later, right? So any guitars better than the ESP F-50 for around $200? Again, thank all of you for your recommendations and add two guitar students to the list.

allthumbs · #17 December 27th, 2006

Yes, Ravens are only available on line as are Agiles. If the F-50 has humbuckers, it is just a matter of rewiring and a switch. I really don't know anything about the low end ESPs. Sorry.

bigj480 · #18 December 28th, 2006

Yes, the f-50 has dual humbuckers. The Roland Cube 15 has went back up to $100. Maybe I will get it anyway but I might as well pick it up at GC for that price. I guess at this price it's still a great choice, right? Any other modeling amps I should consider at that price? Line 6 Spider III 15? It sucks to miss a $30 savings by a day.

Stratrat · #19 December 28th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigj480

The Roland Cube 15 has went back up to $100. Maybe I will get it anyway but I might as well pick it up at GC for that price. I guess at this price it's still a great choice, right?

It went back up because that's the Cube 15X (new model). Up until a few days ago they had the Cube 15 (last year's model) for the lower price, but it looks like they sold them all out or discontinued them. I still think the Cube is the best bang for the buck in that price category. The Line 6 Spider amps get very mixed reviews....some think they're great, others don't like them at all. I can't say much about how they sound because I ordered one when I bought my Strat and the amp didn't work when I got it. I called Line 6's customer service, and they had a real indifferent "oh well" attitude toward the whole thing, so I sent the amp back and got a refund rather than getting another one.

The Peaveys in that price range sound like poo, and the low-end Marshall MGs generally don't get great reviews either. The Vox Valvetronix series seem to be very popular, but they're a little higher than your price range ($189 for the AD15VT). The Epiphone Valve Junior gets great reviews among tube amp enthusiasts, but based on what you're looking for, I think you'd find it lacking - to get a "metal" sound out of it you'd have to buy a stompbox (effects pedal), which will drive your price up another $50 - 100. The Roland Cube will give you a much wider variety of sounds as well as the ability to play with the onboard effects, and this will help because when you start looking at buying pedals later, you'll have an idea of what they do and which ones you want.

As far as the set-in neck on the guitars - I don't know about the Raven or Agile, but the Schecter is a bolt-on neck. Doesn't bother me a bit, as all my other guitars are bolt-on necks also.